One of the first caramplifiers I ever owned was a small 40 watt CLARION, and I was thoroughly impressed with it. That was 19 years ago, and I've never forgotten the name CLARION since!
CLARION still produce quality gear, and the DXZ748RMP is no exception. I got the clarion for a very reasonable price, and for what I paid the features and quality are far above what you can expect from other brands. For just over £140 delivered the radio came with a remote, motorized front panel, huge colour changing display, and a rated 53 watts per channel x 4. A similar Alpine would cost twice as much with very similar sound quality.
But how does it sound? There is a lot of debate, if you read through a couple of reviews, about the sound quality of the Clarion. Some like it, some love it, and some hate
it. Generally though most reviews I read were positive and most people liked the clarity this unit and other Clarions produce. I am one of the people that liked the sound of the Clarion. Ever since installing my first Blaupunkt radio I've always been a fan so it has been hard to change to other brands. However over the past few years the build quality of Blaupunkt has taken a serious dive and the aesthetics are much to be desired, so I decided to try a Clarion.
I was like a kid waiting for the Clarion DXZ748RMP to arrive, and when it did I installed it in record time, I think It was up and running within 5 minutes! Well it took me the best part of 2 hours to figure out how to use all the controls and adjust the sound to my liking, and initially I was impressed with the results. I can tell you straight off that the Clarion is no match for the Blaupunkt sonically, and I'll explain why a little later. For features the Clarion is far superior to the Blaupunkt, and it also looks sooo much better than the Blaupunkt in my car with the display colour matched perfectly, and the large LCD display. I love the motorized face and the display although a little hard to read in direct sun light is full of useful information. But let's get back to the sound quality. As I said initially the sound was great, but as soon as I got on the road the music sounded a little thin. I drive a Honda CR-V so I need a bit of low end bass to drown out the road noise or else the road noise drowns out the bass! Most car radios are designed to compensate for this and this is why many factory fitted radios sound full bodied and not very bright. When driving the sound changes and should become more balanced with some of the bass being drowned out and the treble becoming more prominent. However with the Clarion unit the music is balanced off road rather than on road, if you see what I mean. This is mainly due to the fact that the Clarion has a strong upper and lower frequency range, but a week mid range. When driving it is the mid range that takes prominence and without it the music tends to sound thin as is the case with the Clarion.
Another weakness of the Clarion is its production of female vocals. You can clearly hear the difference between the Blaupunkt and Clarion on female vocals, with the Clarion sounding hollow and mechanical. The Blaupunkts production of the same vocals sounds clearer and sweeter with an excellent sound stage. This isn't all bad news because there is a cure. The missing depth to the mid range around the 500Hz mark can be filled with a small sub (note the word small). You only need a small sub to produce say from 100Hz to 600Hz, but that should fill the gap and add weight to the thin treble and mid range. Adding a large sub would simply add depth to the lower regions below 50Hz and we don't need to do this. A small sub with a small transducer tends to be energetic and complement the music whereas larger subs tend to lag behind unless you're driving them with some serious current. Driving a separate sub also has the benefit of offering greater impact at lower volumes since you can control it separately to the radios volume, and this really does smooth everything out.
The above explains what I have experienced on other systems I have installed, and I am hoping it will ring true for the Clarion. In a nut shell the Clarion possesses many of the qualities that will make it an excellent head unit when combined with the right equipment. A sub is almost a must unless you have large speakers installed, but in the right set-up the Clarion will shine with it's clarity and tuneful bass. I have yet to install the sub as I am only getting it next week, but I will right a follow-up when it's done. Wish me luck.
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